Inter Milan's route to UEFA Champions League 2022-23 final

The Nerazzurri last won this crown in 2009-10

A team that reaches the UEFA Champions League finals is stereotypically thought to be successful in their domestic league. But that has not been the case with the Serie A giants. Inter finished third, successfully regaining UCL status. However, with 72 points, they were far off the eventual winners, Napoli. Luciano Spalletti's men won the Italian league with 90 points.

To be honest, in hindsight, Inter fans can't really complain. Napoli have done really well in Serie A. Even second-place Lazio collected just 74 points. However, that won't be a big deal for Inter. Former Lazio manager Simone Inzaghi has remarkably brought the Nerazzurri back to the big time. After their last 2010 Champions League-winning final appearance under Jose Mourinho, Inter Milan are back to being the epitome of European football.

Only treble-chasing Manchester City now stands in their way, as the two sides are all set to collide at the Atatürk Olympic Stadium on Saturday. This stadium in Istanbul famously hosted the 2005 Milan-Liverpool UCL final tie, which later came to be known as the miracle of Istanbul due to Liverpool's epic second-half comeback. The Reds eventually took home the trophy.

In the eyes of the viewers, Inter Milan seems to be the underdog team going into the UEFA Champions League 2022-23 finals. But manager Inzaghi has yet to witness a cup final defeat. He has won seven finals with Lazio and Inter combined out of the seven his teams reached. Now whatever happens in the eighth, we need to understand their journey, which makes this side one to watch out for for the Sky Blues from Etihad.

Group C Runners Up

Inter, unfortunately, were drawn into the strongest group in the 2022–23 Champions League group stages. Group C featured Bayern, FC Barcelona, and Viktoria Plzen. Bayern remained unbeatable and finished first with all 18 points. On matchday 1, Inter Milan became their first victim.

Inter Milan quickly dusted themselves off and defeated the Doosan Arena host, Plzen. Eventually, the narrow 1-0 home win on matchday 3 against 2023 LaLiga winners FC Barcelona made the difference. It helped separate them from the Blaugrana, who finished third and dropped to the Europa League.

Round of 16 and quarterfinals against the Portuguese giants

In the Round of 16, a solo goal in the entire 180 minutes separated Inter from FC Porto. The first leg at the San Siro saw Porto drop to 10 men after the red card was handed to Otavio in the 78th minute. Eventually, the side wearing the black and blue kits took advantage. Romelu Lukaku's 86th-minute strike was the only difference in the tie. And also served as the only difference in the aggregate score. The second leg was a goalless draw at Estádio do Dragão.

Another Portuguese team met at the crossroads. This time it was Benfica in the quarters.

Estádio do Sport Lisboa e Benfica hosted the first-leg tie, where home advantage faltered under the Serie A giants. The Italian, Nicolo Barella, opened the scoresheet with his header in the 51st minute. Inter added another with Lukaku's 82nd-minute penalty. And that was it for the first leg, now Inter had to keep their calm at home.

At San Siro, the game was highly competitive. A total of six goals were scored on the night. Inter Milan scored in the 14th, 65th, and 78th minutes. While Portugal's Benfica scored three of their own in the 38', 86', and 90+5' minutes. Inzaghi's Inter are now headed into the semis after a 5-3 aggregate win to face a similar opponent.

Milan derby in the semi-finals

The similar opponents were none other than city rivals AC Milan.

The build-up to the Milan derby in the Champions League semi-finals was highly talked about. Both teams were hard to separate on paper. But the Nerrazuris had a different plan. Inter Milan were lightning quick to change the weather forecast at San Siro in the first leg. Two quick-sequence goals separated by just three minutes in the first ten minutes changed the entire mood for the Rossoneris. Dzeko's left-footed strike to direct the corner in the 8th minute was accompanied by an 11th-minute goal of an open-play counterattack. Mkhitaryan was on the end of it to give an early 2-0 advantage to Inter, which also remained on the scoreline after the final whistle.

Any chance of an AC Milan comeback was finally scuffed off when Argentine Lautaro Martinez scored in the 74th minute of the second leg. The Milan derby was a party for the Black and Blues, as they finished 3-0 on aggregate.

The Nerrazzuris' dream to make it four

Inter's road to the UEFA Champions League 2023 finals has been a tough one. They faced remarkable clubs of the highest order. Saturday night in Istanbul will see them go head-to-head and literally toe-to-toe against Guardiola's Manchester City. City, however, came off a shaky start in the Premier League. An away draw and loss to Brighton and Brentford, respectively, make them beatable for Inzaghi's Inter.

And given Simone Inzaghi's perfect final record, only time will tell: will Inter record a four-haul of Champions League trophies in their cabinet, or is another manager's perfect record set to be broken? Recently, we have seen Jose Mourinho's perfect finals record shattered by serial Europa League winner Sevilla.